Some Disney Explainin'!

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I've got some Disney explaining to do. Here's the story-

For years Marie BitsandClips have been talking about our 'someday dream' to take the girls (and Luca) to DisneyLand or DisneyWorld together. We are the kind of women who delight in the little things so a trip like that would be like magic to us. We knew we would take joy from every tiny thing, from packing in flight handbags to seeing Cinderella's castle, and so, it's been on our 'please, please one day please list' for a looonngg time.

(From our trip in Oct '13)

Now, you might not know this about me but when I decide on doing something, I'm not letting it go. Persistent Pentland is not a nickname without basis. This Summer I decided I was going to make this happen and so set out talking to Marie and getting going on the dream. We booked a trip for November but due to work commitments, we had to delay it to March.

Since the Summer we have been talking, planning, pinning and researching all things DisneyWorld. We are OBSESSED. Since Darcy has already been to the Magic Kingdom (HERE), I know she'd understand the concept of a Disney holiday and so told her all about it. She doesn't have a grasp of time yet so it's always been, 'When Scarlet (Marie's Daughter) turns 4, it's time to go on Holiday!'. She's pumped.

Then, like some kind of magic curveball, DisneyWorld contacted my management. The dream brand that I have been wanting to work with since forever, sent an invite. They asked if Matt, Darcy and I would like to join them for four days, staying on one of their resorts and touring the parks, in return for vlogs and blogs and all those good things.

I was torn. On one hand its the absolute dream and the exchange seemed perfect to me because I don't think I could ever go somewhere that magical and not document it on every social platform available but then on the other, would it take the shine away from my dream GlitterBits (yeah, I did just ship BitsandClips and Sprinkle of Glitter haha) trip?

We thought about it for a few days and decided to go. You just can't say 'no' to Mickey Mouse and we know that the experiences will both be so different. We are so grateful to have been considered for this opportunity and are giddy with glee to go- twice!! We know it won't take any fizz from the March trip because we have so many treats planned for it and the true joy of it will be to spent time with the Sunshine family (seriously, what kind of a perfect surname for them is that?). 

With all that in mind (two Disney vacations in two months), this blog is about to get rather magical! I want to write as many posts as possible because reading other people's thoughts and opinions on the most magical place on earth is one of my favourite things to do in my spare time.

So what would you like to see?

I'll list some ideas below but if you have anymore, please leave them for me and I'll see what I can do.

Potential Posts for Trip One (The Magical Work Trip)

Disney Resort Hotel Review

Staying In Hotels With Toddlers

Theme Park Handbag Essentials

DisneyWorld Makeup (as in how I do mine for the day)

Darcy OOTD's

Mama OOTD's

Yummy Disney Food

Great Rides for Toddlers

Disney Details (I'm excited for that one!)

General Experience of each Park (Picture Heavy)

Airport Tips with Tots

The Disney Tag

Potential Posts for Trip Two (The Dream GlitterBits Trip)

Pre-trip Disney Haul (I've bought a lot that I am saving for March!)

Non Disney Resort Review (We're staying offsite)

Darcy & Scarlet & Luca OOTD's

Mama & Marie OOTD's

General Experience of each Park (Picture Heavy)

Sweet Snacks for Us & the Kiddies

Great Rides for Adults

All The Magic (all the sweet moments of little girls holding hands etc)

Packing your Stroller

Hidden Mickeys

Family Moments

Restaurant Chats

Past Disney Experiences

Obviously quite a lot there and definitely won't do all of them but just ideas to consider or add to! If you hate Disney, you're probably not going to enjoy my blog for the next few week but I will try to keep a few of the regular posts going too!

Alrighty, let me know what you thing!

Toodlepip!

xx

Red Breakfast Part One

This blog post is sponsored by Warburtons.

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

If you have been following this blog for a long time you might remember this time last year Sprinkle of Glitter partnered with Warburtons to talk about some new exciting ways you might want to serve pancakes to your family. 

This year Warburtons are back and are the official supporters of the British Heart Foundation's, 'Wear It. Beat It.' campaign. From the 19th of January the packaging will be changed and 5p from every loaf will be donated. Warburtons are encouraging families across the country to pick up a loaf and host a Red Breakfast, which is actually what this post is about! 

In this house, we are food people. We enjoy the eating, the socialising, the instagramming (lol), we're foodies. 

When we were asked if we would talk about a few fun wholemeal toast ideas and start a bit of a blog convo about family heart health and the importance of having a healthy heart, it was an easy choice- yes!

In this post we'll look at a sweet and savoury wholemeal toast option. Of course, you could go for non-wholemeal-toasted bread or sandwiches but in this house, we're wholemeal toast people!

Tomato and Basil Wholemeal Toast

Oh me oh my this was delicious. I was surprised because I'm usually pretty picky about tomatoes (I like them in things but not on their own) but I really, really enjoyed this and will be making it again. 

To Make :

Toast wholemeal bread to your liking, lay on some torn fresh basil, grill tomatoes and place on top, drizzle a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle a little rock salt and voila! The tastiest savoury treat. Yay. 

Tips :

I know you imagine a grilled tomato to be just cut in half but I found it easier to do 3 or 4 thick slices instead - they sit better on the wholemeal toast and are easier to eat. :)

Crushed Raspberry and Cream Cheese Wholemeal Toast

This was a favourite for Baby Glitter. We usually give her berries as part of puddings so to her, this was something quite special haha. 

To Make : 

Toast wholemeal bread, spread cream cheese, scatter raspberries- beyond easy!

Tip : 

Crush and tear the raspberries a little bit so the lovely flavour seeps out a little. 

And there you have it, two incredibly quick and easy ideas. Why not pick up a loaf in store and have your own Red Breakfast with friends, family or even colleagues an raise funds for the British Heart Foundation? For more information or the chance to win Red Breakfast kits, head on over to the Warbutons Facebook Page. 

I hope you liked these ideas and they haven't made you too hungry! What do you like to put on your toast? All ideas welcome!!

Toodlepip!

xx

Allergy Advice - This product contains wheat, gluton, soya and is produced in a bakery which used milk, sesame seeds and barley. 

This blog post is sponsored by Warburtons.

Personal Facebook Reveals

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I'm gonna be bold- I am a comedy genius. No, I joke (ha, pun intended), I'm not but I do make myself laugh sometimes. At least someone does eh?

I regularly hold back on social media because I'm a pretty private person and also because it scares me that strangers can see everything and I don't know what they might thing- oh hai Insecurities, welcome, welcome. 

My personal Facebook though is quite the oasis. I'm a serial status updater and to be very blunt, some of those gems just need to be shared with the world, the Glitter World at least. 

After no good thinking at all (I'm sleep deprived as usual and have had way too much sugar), I've decided to share a few of my favourites. Enjoy!

I realise I've done a poor job of hiding surnames but all the people here are YouTubers who you know anyway. Please don't FB stalk them or they won't be my friends anymore. 

Did this tickle your pickle? Should I do this more often or is something that only makes me smile?

If this is entirely mad, blame the cocopops. Often I copy statuses over to my Glitter FB, which you can follow HERE. 

Toodlepip!

xx

Target Is And Will Always Be My Friend

Just dropping in really quick today to share some finds from Target this weekend. On Saturday, I went to Target to pick up some... hmm... what did I go for? Oh, I was looking for some goodies for my planner. Eh, let's be honest, it's Target, I went because its my happy place. At any rate, I went with the intention of only spending a few dollars. I guess that's always my plan but when I go into Target there's no way I can leave without taking a detour through the household items. Do you take the same detour?

I've been casually looking for some bar stools since moving into our little condo. Originally I'd been eyeing the Ingolf Bar Stool from Ikea for $69. I see it all over blogland and Pinterest, certainly a cute chair and seems to hold up well... but enter my friend Target.


There I was in the bar stool aisle, minding my own business with my $20 worth of dollar spot and planner items in my cart, when light shined from the heavens and I spotted the clearance tag on these Threshold bar stools. They have a similar feel to the ones at Ikea, but were now marked down to half the price! Oh yeah, the last three of these babies were definitely coming home with me.

And about an hour after arriving home we have this...

Do you see my photo bomber in the background? Look in the lower left corner.

This is a few days after moving in.

Ah... much better! But this picture makes me realize we need some color in this space. Any suggestions?

Till next time...




#target #targetstyle #threshold #thresholdtarget #clearance #barstools #kitchen #kitchenstools 

Curing The Agony of Grocery Shopping... Kinda

I recently received a question from a reader asking how I manage to not buy duplicates when I go grocery shopping. Until I received that question, it hadn’t occurred to me that I was guilty of doing that very thing on countless occasions. Then I realized I haven’t had it happen in a while… hmmm?

Picture this true-to-life scene: You walk through the door with your many bags of groceries in tow. You gingerly sit them on the counter and start unpacking them to put in their respective places. As you add the bell peppers, the cucumbers, the cheese, and a few other items to the refrigerator, you quickly realize that you could have saved your money on those items since you are fully stocked. “Oh well,” you think, “let’s load up the pantry.” Turning to the pantry you are shocked to realize that the situation is much the same in there…

Sound familiar? Well, that was often the scene in on any given Sunday in my house. There’s nothing like coming home from your weekly trip to the grocery store to discover that at least 30%-40% of what you just purchased is already in your frig or pantry.It’s extremely frustrating because not only is it a waste of money, its potentially going to be a waste of food as well.

Now the question remains, how have I rectified the problem for my household? First, I think the most important change made was to start meal planning. Planning for the week ahead not only saves me from constantly thinking about what I’m going to eat but it’s also the key to my shopping trip.  Once all the meals are planned, I write all the ingredients down on my Grocery List printable. Well, I don’t include the seasonings, unless it’s something unique I've never used before.

With my completed grocery list in tow, I make the short trek from the office to the kitchen to compare my grocery list with what’s already in the frig and freezer. If I already have something I can simply cross it off the list now and not waste my money at the store. 

 

Next, I take stock of what’s in the pantry as well. I can once again mark off what’s on my list that I already have and I can add the staple items that we are low on.

 Can you tell this was taken before my shopping trip? It’s looking kinda bare, need to fill this baby up.

Lastly, I have a chalkboard where I write down items we've run out of during the past week. I double check to make sure they made to my list as well. This hangs right across from the kitchen island so its in plain sight and easily accessible.

The whole process takes about 10-15 minutes and saves me time in the grocery store (I hate grocery shopping) and saves money, so it’s well worth it to me.

That’s all… now it’s off to the store.